Vessel Data Manager

Kpler; United States; On-site; USD 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Kpler is seeking a Vessel Data Manager to lead a team of 6 Data Analysts, optimizing data pipelines and ensuring data quality across platforms. The successful candidate will manage team goals and collaborate closely with product and engineering teams to maintain a reliable global shipping repository.

Qualified applicants should have strong technical skills in SQL and Python, along with a degree in Data Science or a related field. Kpler promotes a diverse and inclusive work environment and values applicants from various backgrounds.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of experience managing a technical data team.
• Hands-on proficiency in SQL and Python.
• Experience with ETL processes and APIs.

Responsibilities

• Lead a team of Data Analysts and define goals.
• Optimize high-scale data pipelines.
• Collaborate with stakeholders for data insights.

Skills

Leadership

SQL

Python

ETL Processes

Data Visualization

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in relevant field

Tools

Tableau

Excel

Job description

Your future position

Kpler’s Maritime Data unit is looking for a Vessel Data Manager with strong technical background. In this role, you will lead a dedicated team of 6 Data Analysts responsible for owning, scaling, and protecting the core baseline dataset that underpins the entire Kpler ecosystem. This is a crucial, horizontal position: your team’s data serves as the single source of truth powering production systems across both the Kpler Terminal and the MarineTraffic platform.

You will spend your time equally divided between driving team roadmap delivery and actively contributing to writing and optimizing high‑scale data pipelines in SQL and Python. Collaborating closely with Data Product Managers and Engineering Managers, you will protect database integrity and ensure our global shipping repository remains the most accurate and reliable in the world.

Your mission is to:

• Define and monitor team goals, supervise activities, and maintain focus on priorities.
• Serve as the subject matter expert on Vessel Particulars & Companies business logic, rules, and datasets.
• Identify and integrate new datasets into our databases.
• Develop and test business logic, create dashboards, and curate datasets.
• Allocate resources, support team members, and identify training needs.
• Implement automation solutions, integrate new data sources, and maintain related platforms.
• Collaborate with tech stakeholders for infrastructure needs and support commercial teams with data insights.
• Enhance proprietary data quality and keep the team aligned with company objectives.
• Manage KPIs and OKRs, provide insights for improvement, and support product development.

Experience & Background

Essential:

• 3+ years of proven experience formally leading and managing a technical data team
• Advanced, hands‑on proficiency in SQL and Python
• Proven experience designing, optimizing, and maintaining ETL processes, working with APIs for data ingestion, and utilizing web‑scraping frameworks.
• Practical familiarity with data visualization and reporting tools (e.g., Tableau, Looker, Excel)
• A strong understanding of statistical methodologies to build automated data validation logic.
• Excellent communication skills with a track record of collaborating with cross‑functional management

Desirable:

• Background from Maritime Industry and SaaS is highly valuable for this role.
• Project management experience.
• Experience with Dataiku or similar data science and workflow automation platforms.

Behavioural Competencies

• Strong leadership and team management skills
• Structured and process‑oriented mindset, with a focus on prioritisation and delivery reliability
• Analytical thinking and problem‑solving
• Effective communication and collaboration with cross‑functional and external stakeholders.
• Ownership and accountability, with a continuous improvement mindset.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Data Science, Computer Science, Engineering, Maritime Studies or a related field.

Our People Pledge

Don’t meet every single requirement? Research shows that women and people of color are less likely than others to apply if they feel like they don’t match 100% of the job requirements. Don’t let the confidence gap stand in your way; we’d love to hear from you! We understand that experience comes in many different forms and are dedicated to adding new perspectives to the team.

Kpler is committed to providing a fair, inclusive and diverse work‑environment. We believe that different perspectives lead to better ideas, and better ideas allow us to better understand the needs and interests of our diverse, global community. We welcome people of different backgrounds, experiences, abilities and perspectives and are an equal opportunity employer.